Re: Mujtaba Saidi
ORB File No: 5362
Hearing held on: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Place of hearing: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code
Before:
Alternate Chairperson: Mr. J. Goldenberg
Members: Dr. R. Wood Hill
Dr. M. Kalia
Ms. N. Nathanson
Ms. K. McMillan
Parties Appearing:
Accused: Mujtaba Saidi
Counsel: Mr. A. Pollard
The person in charge of hospital Counsel: Ms. S. Rosales-Zelaya
Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Mr. M. Feindel
REASONS FOR DISPOSITION
(Dated March 9, 2026)
Introduction
On June 3, 2009, Mujtaba Saidi was found not criminally responsible on charges of assault (x2), arson (x2) - damage to property and disregard for human life, mischief under $5,000.00, and mischief over $5,000.00, all contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.
He is currently subject to a disposition of the Ontario Review Board (the “Board”) dated December 13, 2024, detaining him at the Forensic Service at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, (“CAMH” or “The Hospital”) with discretionary privileges up to and including the ability to live in the community of the Greater Toronto Area (“GTA”) in accommodation approved by the person in charge.
His annual review was initially scheduled for December 2, 2025, but was adjourned at the request of Mr. Saidi’s counsel due to a family emergency.
Issues
- The issues for the Board to decide were whether Mr. Saidi is a significant threat to the safety of the public and, if so, the necessary and appropriate Disposition for the coming year based on the factors set out in s. 672.54 of the Criminal Code.
Current Psychiatric Diagnoses
- Mr. Saidi’s current diagnoses are Schizophrenia and Cannabis Use Disorder.
Position of the Parties
The Hospital’s position is that the necessary and appropriate Disposition is no change from the current Disposition.
Counsel for the Ministry of the Attorney General supported the Hospital’s position.
Mr. Pollard, counsel for Mr. Saidi, indicated that there was no issue regarding significant threat to the safety of the public but his position on Disposition was subject to the evidence. At the conclusion of the evidence, Mr. Pollard joined the Hospital and Ministry of the Attorney General in their positions.
During evidence, the Board raised the issue of specifying level of security in the Disposition. At final submissions, all parties agreed that if the Board were to specify level of security, Detention in a General Forensic Unit was appropriate.
For reasons that follow, the Board finds that Mr. Saidi continues to represent a significant threat to the safety of the public and that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of the current Disposition of a Detention Order.
Index Offence
- On August 28, 2008, Mr. Saidi was living with his mother in Toronto. For no apparent reason, he became irate at his mother, grabbed her by the neck, and started to choke her. His sister tried to call 911. Mr. Saidi grabbed the phone and smashed it. Mr. Saidi’s sister and mother were able to flee the residence and contact police. When they arrived, the house was in flames and Mr. Saidi had fled. Three separate points of origin for the fire subsequently were identified. The entire contents of the house, which was an attached townhouse, were destroyed. The house was an attached townhouse. Mr. Saidi was arrested four days later.
Background and History
The Hospital Report dated November 7, 2025, was entered as Exhibit 1. It includes details of Mr. Saidi’s background that will not be replicated in these reasons beyond specific highlights as set out below, many of which are taken from last year’s Reasons for Disposition, and supplemented by information in the Hospital Report.
Mr. Saidi is 41 years old and was born in Afghanistan. In 1985, he moved with his family to Canada and became a Canadian citizen. His father passed away when he was ten or eleven years old. He remains in contact with his mother and siblings.
Mr. Saidi completed Grade 12 but was unable to graduate due to becoming ill. He attributed his academic issues to substance use. Mr. Saidi began experimenting with cannabis around age 19.
While in high school, he was employed in retail positions. At the time of the index offences, he was unemployed and financially supported by the Ontario Disability Support Program (“ODSP”).
Mr. Saidi has a criminal record that includes a youth conviction for theft under, and 2006 convictions for unlawful possession of explosives, fail to appear, assault peace officer, and fail to comply with probation. There is a 2011 conviction for aggravated assault, relating to staff in hospital, for which he received a two-year sentence.
Mr. Saidi’s first psychiatric admission was in September 2005. He was brought to hospital by police after a dispute with his mother. He reported that he was consuming cannabis on a regular basis and did not believe that his use was problematic. Diagnosis upon discharge was substance-induced psychosis, secondary to cannabis use. In the spring of 2008, he was admitted to hospital in the context of medication non-compliance. He was paranoid on admission. He was started on long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication, and the discharge diagnosis was paranoid schizophrenia. Shortly after, he was readmitted to hospital due to medication side-effects. Medication changes were made.
During the course of his court proceedings on the index offences, Mr. Saidi was admitted to Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences pursuant to a Treatment Order. He was noted to be significantly disorganized and spoke at length about religious themes. He was delusional, guarded, and suspicious with staff.
In June 2010, Mr. Saidi became extremely violent when staff approached him to offer medication. He cornered a female staff member and struck her repeatedly in the face. A second female staff member was hit in the back of her neck when she turned to avoid facial contact. Mr. Saidi was charged with aggravated assault and transferred to Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. With treatment, he improved and became fit to stand trial for the aggravated assault offence. However, he refused to continue with his medication and his mental status deteriorated. He became agitated and aggressive toward staff and co-patients.
In 2011, he was convicted of aggravated assault and transferred to the Kingston Penitentiary Regional Treatment Centre. In March 2012 he was transferred back to Waypoint pursuant to an ORB placement decision.
On April 14, 2012, Mr. Saidi was found incapable to consent to treatment. His sister, acting as his Substitute Decision Maker (“SDM”), consented to treatment with antipsychotic medication (risperidone). Mr. Saidi remained at Waypoint until he was admitted to the Secure Forensic Unit at CAMH in February 2015. He remained psychotic despite treatment and required support in his daily living activities. His had poor insight into his mental illness, the need for treatment and the role of substances in the index offences.
In 2017, after a new course of medication (clozapine), Mr. Saidi demonstrated more organization in his thoughts and increased engagement with staff. He adhered to treatment despite believing he did not require it. In August 2018, he was transferred to a General Forensic Unit and commenced working at the Trinity Square Café. Mr. Saidi’s sister and a cousin became approved persons, resulting in several overnight passes.
Mr. Saidi experienced several relatively stable years, adhering to medication, having no positive tests for cannabis and no major incidents. He continued to experience chronic delusional ideation but was stable enough to transition to 24/7 supervised community living in February 2022.
In 2023, Mr. Saidi decompensated, presenting as psychotic and disorganized. He admitted to cannabis consumption and was retuned to hospital from June 21, 2023, to December 12, 2023. He had homicidal thoughts and made verbal threats to staff. He planned to consume cannabis. After medication adjustments, he became more settled in July 2023, though he continued to respond to internal stimuli. He was not released to the community due to his refusal discuss medications, a fixation with cannabis and because he would not commit to compliance with expectations in follow-up and community programming. Eventually, his behavior improved, and he was discharged to community living on December 12, 2023.
Mr. Saidi did well until August 2024 when he had several positive tests for cannabis. He was readmitted from August 29, 2024, to September 10, 2024.
Mr. Saidi’s mental status appeared stable at the beginning of the reporting year in November 2024, however by March 2025, he again tested positive for cannabis and again in April on 5 occasions. Mr. Saidi was readmitted to hospital on April 23, 2025, for stabilization and a medication review due to side effects. He remained an inpatient until September 2, 2025. He experienced hand tremors that mostly dissipated when medication was adjusted. He underwent 14 ECT treatment for treatment resistant schizophrenia. However, there was no significant improvement in his mental state.
During the hospitalization, Mr. Saidi’s thinking appeared to be organized, however, when he became more talkative, his thoughts became more disorganized and incoherent. He appeared, at times to be responding to internal stimuli, though he denied hearing voices.
Following his discharge from hospital in September 2025, Mr. Saidi remained fairly stable. In October, he was asked to leave a Substance Relapse Prevention Group due to lack of engagement and disruptive conduct. His mental status examination demonstrated that he requires a high degree of supervision and one on one monitoring for medication compliance. He has limited insight into his mental illness, the need for medication and the risks of substance abuse. Mr. Saidi’s overall risk is deemed to be low to moderate with the current external oversight program which is deemed to be moderate to high.
Evidence at the Hearing
Dr. C. Kung is Mr. Saidi’s attending psychiatrist. She reported that Mr. Saidi has recently been generally stable, with clear drug screens and attending all appointments. The week prior to the hearing staff at the residence reported that he appeared to be responding to internal stimuli. However, in general Dr. Kung found him to be at his baseline and he was being closely monitored by his team.
Mr. Saidi has had a challenging year. He had a lengthy readmission from April 23 to September 2 due to repeated substance consumption and there had been medication adjustments.
Upon questioning, Dr. Kung stated that if the Board were to specify the level of security, she would request it be to the General Forensic Unit.
It should be noted that Dr. Kung acknowledged that the Hospital Report contained an error where it indicated that Mr. Saidi had “not” consumed cannabis in the past year. In fact, he had been readmitted primarily due to his repeated positive tests for cannabis.
Dr. Kung stated that cannabis negatively impacts Mr. Saidi’s mental health and has contributed to his decompensation. Further, she noted that Mr. Saidi can decompensate quickly.
Analysis and Conclusions
Having heard and considered the entirety of the evidence as well as the submissions from the parties, the Board finds that Mr. Saidi poses a significant threat to the safety of the public.
In Winko, the Supreme Court outlined that, in coming to the conclusion on the issue of significant risk, a Review Board should closely examine a range of evidence, including: the circumstances of the original offence; the past and expected course of the accused’s treatment; the present state of the NCR accused’s medical condition; the NCR accused’s own plans for the future; the support existing for the NCR accused in the community; and most importantly, the recommendations provided by experts who examined the NCR accused.
In coming to our conclusion in this matter, the Board relies on the uncontroverted expert evidence of Dr. C. Kung in addition to the documentary evidence before us.
The Panel takes into consideration the fact the Mr. Saidi continues to struggle with cannabis consumption, and such consumption can quickly lead to decompensation. In the past, decompensation has led to violence. Mr. Saidi experiences psychotic symptoms including paranoid and grandiose delusions as well as disorganized thoughts and conduct. Treatment has reduced but not eliminated his symptoms. He requires a high degree of supervision and has limited insight into his mental illness, the need for medication and the risks of substance abuse. Risk assessment indicates that it is the current oversight program that is keeping Mr. Saidi’s risk at low to moderate risk level.
In consideration of all the evidence, submissions of the parties and criteria set forth in s. 672.54, the paramount consideration being the safety of the public, in addition to the mental condition, his reintegration into society and his other needs, the necessary and appropriate Disposition is a Detention Order, on a General Forensic Unit upon the terms as recommended by the Hospital.
DATED this 9th day of March, 2026, at the City of Toronto, in the Region of Toronto.
Ms. N. Nathanson
Legal Member
Office of the Registrar
Ontario Review Board